Improvement in self-acting rakes for harvesters



UNITED STATES PATENT @Erre J. WHITEHEAD, or MANCHESTER, VIRGINIA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,75l, dated September16, 1856.

To all whom it 'may concern.-

Be it known that I, JEssE WHITEHEAD, of Manchester, in the county ofChesterfield and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin Self-Actin g Rakes; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description ot' the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, making a part thereof, in which-Figure l represents a top plan, Fig. 2 represents in elevation theposition of the parts when the rake is about to' gather up a gavel fromthe platform. Fig. 3 represents in elevation the position of the partswhen the rakeis, about to deliver the gathered gavel on the ground inrear and to one side of the machine.

Where similar letters of reference occur in the separate figures theydenote the sameparts of the machine in all.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe thesame with reference to the drawings.

A is a frame, which may in part represent the platform and in part theframe of any ordinary harvesting-machine.

B is a wheel on the frame, which may be driven from the main wheel ot'the harvester or by any other moving part thereof. A segmental wheel, C,is hung at D to an upright, E, and the projecting end F of saidsegmental wheel G is attached `to the wheel B by a connecting-rod or`pitman, G, so that the rotary motion ofthe wheel B shall communicate avibratory motion to the segment C.

On the face ot' the segment C is a series of beveled cog-teeth whichtake into a beveled pinion, H, which is loose on the column or uprightE, and gives to said pinion a reciprocating rotary motion on saidupright.

Over the pinion H, and also arranged loosely on the shaft or upright E,is placed an arm, I, upon which a carriage, J, is placed, and to saidcarriage is fastened one end of a toggle-lever, K, the other end of saidlever being fastened to the hub of the pinion H.

'Io the under part of the carriage J is fixed a traveling'rake, L, andon the arm I, near to its hub or turning-point, a rake, M, toward andfrom which the traveling' rake L moves.

` Un top of the column E is permanently attached anarm, N, on which alatch, 0, is pivoted, so that it may rise and fall, and on the arm I isa catch, P, into which the latch 0 drops, and when the latch is thusinthe catch the arm I is locked and cannot move until the latch israised up. 0.1 the column Q is arranged anothe'rlatch, R, pivoted to thecolumn at S and controlled by al spring, T'. On the column Q is alsoarranged an arm, U, having its end bent around so as to form a stop tothe traveling arm I. When the arm I swings around into the positionshown at Fig. 3 itis locked there by the latch It and cannot move untilthe latch is removed; 'but during the rest ofthe arm I, while it islatched, the carriage J is f'ree to move over the whole length of itsWays on said arm, and at either end of thecarriage J are arranged theprojecting' pieces a b, the former for` opening the latch R and thelatter for raising the latch O to release the arm I. I would heremention that I contemplate the placing of' the latch R on the standardE, and thus dispense with the column Q; It can be operated there asreadily as where it is now.

It will be remembered that both the pinion I and the arm Jare loose onthe column E. They `can therefore have motions either together orindependent of each other, as the case may be, and, although they areconnected by the lever K, yet the toggle-joint in said lever stilladmits of their independent movement.

The operation is as follows: In Figs. 1,2, the rake is in position, justin rear ofthe cutters, to commence the gathering of a gavel. The latch Obeing down, of course the arm I cannot move. Now, as the pinionturns itdraws, by means of the lever K, the carriage J and rake L with it alongon the arm I, said rake forcing the cut grain along against its fellowM. This motion continues until the projection b strikes underneath thelatch O and raises it out of the catch P. The arm I' is now released andit swings around a quarter of a circle, by the action ofthe lever K,until its end passes the spring-latch It, as shown in red lines in Fig.l, when itis again locked, and the rake L is now ready to release itsgavel and return back along the arm I, which it does by the reversedaction of the pinion H, until the projection a strikes against andpushes away the spring.- latch R, which again releases the arm I, and itimmediately swings around into its former position, and ready for thenext operation.

Having thus fully described the nature of my erse movement, so that thereke cannot swing invention, WhatI claim therein as new, and dearoundWhile the carriageJ and rake L recips'lre to secure by Letters Patent,isrocate to gather md discharge the gevel, sub- 1. The combination ofthe swinging arm I stantielly as herein described. and travelin carrieJe J moving together and ndependentgof eachgother by means substen- JESSEWHITEHEAD' tially such as descrberhend for the purpose Witnesses; setforth. A. B. STOUGHTON,

A 2. Locking the arm I at each end of its trav- E. COHEN.

